I keep forgetting about these guys, arguably the best band in America. Their records always seem to listen well even after years of listens. Especially Recovering the Sattelites and This Desert Life.

At least they make records like the old good rock records of the 70's. What I mean is; mostly good songs, a couple GREAT ones, maybe only one dud to be skipped, a song ordering that makes the listen one cohesive experience, and a surprise, hidden track after 15 minutes of silence.

The musicians in the band hold back very tastefully at every corner, prefering to play for the song rather that demonstrate any technical prowess. This is the case when I have seen them live too, its a show designed around the music and the band dynamics, props a minumum.

My only complaint is that the lead singer Adam Duritz often gets carried away with the melodies when playing the tunes live, and in doin so he often misses the key melodies that make the songs great to begin with. Maybe he is just bored singing them the same but it's necessary for the main hooks and even certain catchy verses. Maybe he just can't do it who knows? He should take lessons from Eddie Vedder who knows just when to screw with the originals and when to nail it like he's recutting a second pass on the original (I've heard him do Black solo exactly like the record and it worked great!).

Along with Green Day and Oasis they are one of the few post 1990 bands that I really like. Some great ballads like Sullivan Street and Holiday in Spain.

The only knock is why so few albums by some of these newer bands? Back in the day The Beatles/Who/Stones cranked out albums every year and also toured regularly. Hard to believe but it's been almost twenty years since August And Everything After. Only five studio albums in nearly twenty years?

"Lyin' awake in a cold, cold sweat. Am I overdrawn, am I going in debt?It gets worse, the older that you get. No escape from the state of confusion I'm in.

Hey charmed one, maybe email my bud munichhilton and he can give you my email address....if he is in a good mood and I promise lay a track on one of his cool tunes. Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than seek permission. peace

To be honest I'd kinda forgotten about them, kind of "where are they now". Adam Duritz was all over the place in the 90's (singing on The Wallflower's debut, dating one of the chicks from "Friends&quot Good to know they're still around making music. "Mr. Jones" does still get mileage at karaoke bars.

QuoteNaturalust
Hey charmed one, maybe email my bud munichhilton and he can give you my email address....if he is in a good mood and I promise lay a track on one of his cool tunes. Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than seek permission. peace

Well WeLoveToPlayTheBlues, not sure what you and whitem8 are smokin but these guys sell as many or more records than the Stones new releases, probably ten's of millions of records worldwide. Half a million initial sales in Europe of August and Everything After. Alot more in the States. This Desert Life I'm guessin is at least double platinum.

Not that that is necessarily an indication of a good band imho but you should check your facts before being so brutal in your post. I'm guessin you prefer Justin Timberlake and Madonna?

Besides, they typically get more record sales AFTER the supporting tour because they are great to see live and they take the performance part more seriously than the recording. I'd say their concert draw (always sold out) and record sales speak for themselves and their strong American fanbase. peace

No I prefer good rock and roll. In my opinion they are boring retreads that never really clicked, other than with middle of the road FM listeners. The singer's faux nasal delivery reminds me of a cats claw on a record groove. No fun for me at all, and none of my rock friends like them, and in fact deride them. And to say they are the best band in America? Whew! for me that is way off base. I can name many many bands that are way more compelling then Counting Crows. For one, try on the Black Crowes for size! THey smoke the CC into the ditch.

Yeah the Black Crowes are great , better raw rock, but their songwriting is not prolifically good. Certainly not very original. And I challenge you to name half a dozen other American bands better than Counting Crows. I also have to assume that you and your rock friends have never seen them live, probably never listened to an entire boring record of theirs either?.... peace

Whoa - kinda of a tough thread here. I like Counting Crows...I don't think they would qually for the Best Band in America...but I'm not sure who does...I ADORE Warren Zevon...Tom Petty - they might be my top American band picks...don't know

Back to the C. Crows...I love "Round Here."

Random lyrics...

Where no one notices the contrast the difference between white and white...Round here we always stand up straight...round here something radiates...She says she likes to meet a boy who looks like Elvis...

SHE HAS TROUBLE ACTING NORMAL WHEN SHE's NERVOUS...

Round here We talk just like lions but we sacrifice like lambs...Round here she's slipping through my handsRound here we stay up very, very late...

We must be tired of something...catch me if I'm fallin'

I do agree that bands in the last 20 years don't seem to have the catalog like the guys we grew up with...

QuoteNaturalust
Yeah the Black Crowes are great , better raw rock, but their songwriting is not prolifically good. Certainly not very original. And I challenge you to name half a dozen other American bands better than Counting Crows. I also have to assume that you and your rock friends have never seen them live, probably never listened to an entire boring record of theirs either?.... peace

Those are six. I could go on and list easily another fifty US bands that I prefer over Counting Crows, and most would consider better. And you are right, my buds and me wouldn't even want to sit through an entire album by them as we heard all we needed seeing them on MTV and hearing them on FM radio. Like said above. They are part of that genre in the 90's, including Hootie and the Blowfish, of generic Frat rock that was for preppy Fraternity Keg parties. But its cool you like them. Rock on bro!

QuoteNaturalust
Well WeLoveToPlayTheBlues, not sure what you and whitem8 are smokin but these guys sell as many or more records than the Stones new releases, probably ten's of millions of records worldwide. Half a million initial sales in Europe of August and Everything After. Alot more in the States. This Desert Life I'm guessin is at least double platinum.

Not that that is necessarily an indication of a good band imho but you should check your facts before being so brutal in your post. I'm guessin you prefer Justin Timberlake and Madonna?

Besides, they typically get more record sales AFTER the supporting tour because they are great to see live and they take the performance part more seriously than the recording. I'd say their concert draw (always sold out) and record sales speak for themselves and their strong American fanbase. peace

In your honest opinion? What about just in your opinion?

You know what little hippy peace dude? You're not even funny. You're a bore. These idiots sell nmore than the Stones' new releases? 99% of artists in the world do that. So what. That makes them...what? Great? Check my facts? Fact is fact - they blow. They blow hard. They're shit. They're crap. They haven't done shit for years and never did shit except imitate Bob Dylan. Poorly. Only idiota would like this band.

If they take performing more serious than recording then...why do they bother releasing such shitty albums? Because they can shine that turd live? Yep. Their record sales speak alright - just like Hooty And The Blowfish - 14 million people were wrong. Include all the Counting Crows in that.

Hey skippy. Yes,your dirty little secret is out dumbshit. Skipstone,lives and sucks once again on IORR. Here's an idea for ya skippy.;Go take a dump in a swamp and stay there, along with your crappy band Tommy...................Try not to JO more than once while reading this you worthless piece of shit.

Additionally, as musicians and playing in bands, we would also listen to get ideas for stuff to add to our set lists. We never, NEVER, would have played a CC song. Why? Well for one we would have had beer cups thrown at us, been heckled, and then I would have had that uncomfortable confrontation with a valley girl who would be secretly be saying how much she loved that Counting Crowes song and how they were the best band she heard since the Go Go's....and I would have felt the urge to shoot up in front of her. All in jest of course.

Adam Duritz = arguably the biggest douche-nozzle in the history of music. Best band in America??!? That's @#$%& up dude. Put down the crack pipe, hang your head in shame and consider asking the person closest to you to punch you in the face really, really, reeeeeeeeeeeally hard. No, serious.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-22 09:08 by LoveJuiceStartsToFlow.

QuoteNaturalust
Well WeLoveToPlayTheBlues, not sure what you and whitem8 are smokin but these guys sell as many or more records than the Stones new releases, probably ten's of millions of records worldwide. Half a million initial sales in Europe of August and Everything After. Alot more in the States. This Desert Life I'm guessin is at least double platinum.

Not that that is necessarily an indication of a good band imho but you should check your facts before being so brutal in your post. I'm guessin you prefer Justin Timberlake and Madonna?

Besides, they typically get more record sales AFTER the supporting tour because they are great to see live and they take the performance part more seriously than the recording. I'd say their concert draw (always sold out) and record sales speak for themselves and their strong American fanbase. peace

In your honest opinion? What about just in your opinion?

You know what little hippy peace dude? You're not even funny. You're a bore. These idiots sell nmore than the Stones' new releases? 99% of artists in the world do that. So what. That makes them...what? Great? Check my facts? Fact is fact - they blow. They blow hard. They're shit. They're crap. They haven't done shit for years and never did shit except imitate Bob Dylan. Poorly. Only idiota would like this band.

If they take performing more serious than recording then...why do they bother releasing such shitty albums? Because they can shine that turd live? Yep. Their record sales speak alright - just like Hooty And The Blowfish - 14 million people were wrong. Include all the Counting Crows in that.

Hey skippy. Yes,your dirty little secret is out dumbshit. Skipstone,lives and sucks once again on IORR. Here's an idea for ya skippy.;Go take a dump in a swamp and stay there, along with your crappy band Tommy...................Try not to JO more than once while reading this you worthless piece of shit.

Thanks SWL this guy has been insulting decent people all over this board today, I'm glad someone called him on it. My words for him would probably get me booted from the board , he's even dogged me into other areas of the internet. Jerk. Wonder what he is doing here? Good thing he's hiding behind a keyboard cause he wouldn't last long in the real world. peace

QuoteFrankM
Along with Green Day and Oasis they are one of the few post 1990 bands that I really like. Some great ballads like Sullivan Street and Holiday in Spain.

The only knock is why so few albums by some of these newer bands? Back in the day The Beatles/Who/Stones cranked out albums every year and also toured regularly. Hard to believe but it's been almost twenty years since August And Everything After. Only five studio albums in nearly twenty years?

back in the day bands were under contract to release albums really fast but today record companies usually don't pressure a band to do that. plus in the day of slow album sales i'm sure the record company wants years to push each release as long as the can. also they have a new album due out this year so in 19 years they released 6 album. i'm pretty sure though sometime between 2003-2007 they took over a year off

QuoteNaturalust
Well WeLoveToPlayTheBlues, not sure what you and whitem8 are smokin but these guys sell as many or more records than the Stones new releases, probably ten's of millions of records worldwide. Half a million initial sales in Europe of August and Everything After. Alot more in the States. This Desert Life I'm guessin is at least double platinum.

Not that that is necessarily an indication of a good band imho but you should check your facts before being so brutal in your post. I'm guessin you prefer Justin Timberlake and Madonna?

Besides, they typically get more record sales AFTER the supporting tour because they are great to see live and they take the performance part more seriously than the recording. I'd say their concert draw (always sold out) and record sales speak for themselves and their strong American fanbase. peace

Thanks RiffHard, those numbers show they are plenty well liked here in the States. I can't believe the rudeness people post on this board based on someone's taste in music. Especially people who have never heard this band play live, probably only know them from the couple hits they've had and don't like the dreds on Adam that they've seen on VH1 or something. Yeah LJSTF you probably are making rude (but funny) comments about a band you have never seen cranking through their Fender Amps and sweating on the first coupla rows. Go see a show then come back and hang your head in shame and punch yourself a few times (hard!) for not having seen them earlier. lol peace

I saw them in Bournemouth around 2002 and Adam was pleased that people knew they had an album out despite the lack of publicity. They were a lot better live than I read, saw them at Wembley in 2000 also.

Hard to judge. The band is good, all songs are very well done, very well performed, but all in all I see no spark. Suer it doesn't help tha I truly can't stand the singer, but - and I don't want to sound rude - but they lack something in the balls department.

There was a funny book I read ages ago called Real men don't eat quiche. Well, I'm quite sure that Adam and co. ate a lot of quiche, so to say.

But there is more than that. Even famous quiche eaters like Ben Harper had it.

All the big names of those years, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Pilots ... had that something.

Even lower profile bands like Incubus to name one were way more interesting. I mean, let's talk about Black Crowes, Guns and Roses and the Peppers, Jeff Buckely, Nirvana and I could go on and on.

QuoteFrankM
Along with Green Day and Oasis they are one of the few post 1990 bands that I really like. Some great ballads like Sullivan Street and Holiday in Spain.

The only knock is why so few albums by some of these newer bands? Back in the day The Beatles/Who/Stones cranked out albums every year and also toured regularly. Hard to believe but it's been almost twenty years since August And Everything After. Only five studio albums in nearly twenty years?

back in the day bands were under contract to release albums really fast but today record companies usually don't pressure a band to do that. plus in the day of slow album sales i'm sure the record company wants years to push each release as long as the can. also they have a new album due out this year so in 19 years they released 6 album. i'm pretty sure though sometime between 2003-2007 they took over a year off

You might be right about the difference between record contracts today and back then, but I'm sure most of these newer bands couldn't release albums every year even if they wanted to. The older bands could write songs in their sleep and were able to not only release albums quicker but release some of the greatest albums of all time in short order.

No one can deny the downfall of Counting Crows as far as popularity and record sales but to me the music hasn't changed that much. It's still pretty good.

"Lyin' awake in a cold, cold sweat. Am I overdrawn, am I going in debt?It gets worse, the older that you get. No escape from the state of confusion I'm in.